Six Candles
by FragilePuzzle
Summary: Near hears news that there's a new orphan coming to Wammy's. When he finds it's a small blonde boy, he decides that they should be friends -- but when his new friend begins to cry, it's up to Near to figure out how to cheer him up. MN, fluff.


**A/N: **This is just a quickie fic I wrote…I might not be able to get Bunnies out today, because I'm really busy, but I'll try my hardest—this is just in case I don't. Cute and fluffy. xD

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Near's eyes traveled the common room, coming to rest on the old, oaken front doors to the orphanage. He heard they were taking in a new orphan today, and the four-year-old boy was quite curious as to…well…everything about this newcomer. Nobody knew if it was a boy or a girl, how old they were—so of course, Near had taken it upon himself to find out and spread the news. All he had to do was tell Linda, and the whole orphanage would know within minutes.

Suddenly, the door flung open to expose an old man whom Near recognized as Watari, a raven-haired man who was slouched over and had a hand crammed into his pocket and a rainbow lollie at his lips—Near didn't recognize him. Was he the new orphan? He looked to be about fourteen or fifteen, so he was pretty old to be here. Most of the oldest children were that old, and they had been here their whole lives. So Near ruled the strange-looking man out as the orphan.

It was then that a small, blonde boy walked out from behind Watari, his cheeks stained with tears. He had the shiniest hair Near had ever seen—it was perfectly shaped in a bob cut, and it seemed as though it bounced exactly in time with his movements. The white-haired boy felt a strange tingling in his stomach that seemed to ricochet throughout his whole body; all the way from his nose to his toes, but he tried to ignore it as he watched the Watari walk away with the strange-looking man. They just left the small boy in the middle of the commons, his large blue eyes wide with nervousness.

"…you resemble a Barbie that my friend Linda likes to play with," Near said, walking up to the blonde boy and trying to start a conversation, figuring that he might take it as a compliment. Apparently, he didn't take to people saying he looked like feminine dolls.

"W-Who are you?" he sniffled angrily, his brow scrunching as he sized Near up.

"My name is Near," the smaller boy replied softly, twirling a lock of hair with one hand, a soft smile gracing his petite lips. "What is your name?"

"My name's Mello, and for the record, I'm _not_ a girl," demanded the blonde, his eyes narrowing as he placed his hands on his hips. "People always think I'm a girl, but I'm _not_."

"I know."

Mello hesitated a moment, his hands dropping from his hips as he allowed his stance to loosen, the furrow dropping from his face. Finally, he began to play with the hem of his shirt, letting out a small, awkward cough. After a moment of silence, he turned his eyes back to Near, the small boy seeing that they were watering. He wondered why—it looked as though he was going to start crying, or he really wanted to.

"Are you sad?" asked Near, his gray eyes roaming the blonde's face for answers. As Mello turned his face towards the ground, eyes being hidden by bangs, all Near did was lean down so he could see underneath the veil of blonde. He didn't want his new friend to be sad…so he was trying to internally think of ways that he could cheer Mello up, coming up with…nothing.

"I'm not sad," he protested, sniffling and crossing his arms. "S-so why don't you just leave me alone and go play with your other friends, okay?"

"I do not have any other friends," murmured Near, softly reaching out his hand and placing it against the skin of Mello's own. "So…will Mello tell me why he is sad?"

"Weren't _you_ sad when your parents left you here?" he asked, his voice rising to a higher pitch. "A-and they…it's my birthday today, and nobody even _cares_! All they care about is talking to my parents and filling out papers…a-and my parents j-just left me here and it's my _birthday_!"

Near's eyes suddenly filled with sorrow, and without any warning, he leaned over and wrapped his arms around the blonde boy. He pulled away after less than three seconds, the hug only meant to comfort the boy and keep him from crying, which Near could tell he desperately wanted to do.

"You are lucky," said Near, blushing almost unnoticeably as he pulled back, wondering what came over him. He was usually affectionate with nobody, but there was something _about_ this boy. It seemed to make all his emotions rise to the surface—to make them impossible to hide or control.

"H-how am I lucky?" he asked, a few tears dripping out of his eyes, not yet full-blown crying.

"You have a winter birthday," replied Near, reaching out to pat away the tears with the sleeve of his shirt. "Winter is my favorite season…it is always so beautiful and white."

"But what good is having it—no matter what season it's in—if nobody even 'members it…" Mello said quietly, looking down at the floor again. Near watched as a few droplets of water pitter-pattered against the marble floors, but he didn't say anything this time. He only reached over and tugged on Mello's arm, interlocking their fingers as he led him back towards the kitchen, having finally hatched a plan that was destined to cheer up the crying boy. Whenever Mello started to cry again, it made Near feel sad, so the small boy decided that this was really for both of their benefits.

"I…I want to try and cheer Mello up," said Near, tugging on Mello's arm a bit harder, trying to bring him to a childish gait, which most kids considered running, but what adults would probably consider stumbling and tripping over things. However, Near had no time for dilly-dallying, as Roger said. He had a mission.

"But I was supposed t-to stay out there!" Mello exclaimed, trying to break free of Near's grip. When they both stopped, he hesitated for a few moments before shaking his head, turning his eyes back to Near. In a moment, it was decided that they weren't going back out to the commons right now.

After a few more minutes of turning down twisted and mazelike corridors, Near arrived at the door to the kitchen—he had memorized the layout of Wammy's just this year, and he was very proud of his ability to find his way around. As he turned back around to smile at Mello, he saw that the boy was crying again, and his own smile turned into a frown.

"Do you need a hug again?" he asked, wondering how one was supposed to handle a situation like this. The blonde did nothing but weakly shrug, sniffle, and wipe at his eyes with the back of his shirtsleeve. So Near decided to give him another hug before he pulled Mello into the kitchen.

Looking around, Near hesitated before his eyes lit up, remembering exactly where what he was looking for rested. After lugging a stool over to the counter, he climbed up on to the marble surface, opening a high-up cupboard and exposing a stash of chocolate that was handed out every Sunday afternoon, if you had been behaving. He figured that Mello deserved one—and it was his birthday, after all.

"Be careful!" Mello warned him, watching the small boy climb back down on to the stool and hop down in front of him, nearly falling over before regaining his composure and holding out the cocoa bar.

"Here you go," he said shyly, beginning to twirl the same curl around his pale finger. "It is mine, but Mello can have it, since it is his birthday. Would he like to go back out into the common room with me?"

Mello hesitated before snatching the chocolate, greedily unwrapping the foil and snapping a piece off, allowing it to melt on his tongue. It wasn't until then that Near's words sank in, and he wondered what the smaller boy was asking—however, he supposed it must have been an invitation to play, so that was what he took it as, nodding and following the small boy back out into the common room. This birthday was getting better already, thanks to…Near…who he…hoped would be his new friend.

-^-^-^-

L and Watari walked out into the commons to get Mello, deciding that it was about time to introduce the blonde boy to some of the other orphans. However, when they got out there, he had, apparently, already made a friend. The black-clad boy was sitting on the floor next to Near, a chocolate bar in his hand and a small bow like the ones you find on presents resting in his hair. Near had a matching bow, and was putting together his favorite puzzle, the blonde looking on with an expression that seemed to show amazement.

"Wow, you're really fast at that!" he said, blue eyes widening as Near clicked the last piece into place.

"It appears as though Near is finally making a friend," Watari noted, watching as the black-haired man standing next to him itched the back of his leg with his bare foot, staring at Near with a look of curiosity in his eyes. However, as the scene with the two young boys continued to unfold, they both continued to watch, wondering how Near would respond.

"Thank you, Mello," Near replied, his voice holding a little bit of pride as he turned to look at Mello. But what nobody expected was for Near to clumsily press his lips against Mello's, leaving them there for a moment before picking up his puzzle and standing up, looking at the stunned Mello before running over to Watari. He made a move to sneak past the old man, but he was stopped by a thin, scarily pale hand on his shoulder. Then the man—who was still licking away at that rainbow lollie—leaned down so their noses were almost touching.

"That was quite audacious of you, Near," he murmured, pulling away after a moment, going back to itching his leg and licking at his sweet. "But it is nice to see you're making friends."

Mello was still in the same shocked position as he softly pressed his fingers to his lips, watching as Near ran around the corner. It was a moment before he popped his small head of curls back around the wall, and it was only to say one thing.

"Happy birthday, Mello."

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**End Note: **Bunnies will be released as soon as possible, I promise! But since Near got two fics for his birthday, I figured I'd best put up two for Mello's too. xD Well…I probably shouldn't write crack fluff, but I just wanted to, okay? Gosh. T.T Crack fluff is just too fun.

~FragilePuzzle


End file.
